


Reminiscence

by JoelJansenD



Series: Inquisitor Evanna [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 20:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16583252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoelJansenD/pseuds/JoelJansenD
Summary: [2018W46] "Week 1 Prompt 4: An event that shapes the beginning of your OC's life."Prompt found on: https://old.reddit.com/r/dragonage/comments/9vv011/spoilers_alloctime_to_be_storytellers_the_dragon/





	Reminiscence

Long ago, in a time before even the Chantry was founded, the Tevinter Imperium established Kirkwall to supply stone for the many architectural marvels the ancient Tevinters have given to the world. The city has contributed significantly to the many wonders that are still seen and used in Thedas to this day but is perhaps best known for housing the heart of the Imperium's slave trade: the Gallows. Tall, grey buildings surrounded the Gallows, looking down upon new slaves arriving from Kirkwall's docks. These newcomers were greeted by gigantic statues, depicting the gruesome abuse they were going to face, every day for the rest of their lives. The Gallows were designed, not to serve as a stage for the many public executions that took place daily, but to break the will of all who entered.

But times have changed. The Imperium has been pushed back to the north of Thedas, slavery is abolished. It wouldn't be too surprising to see that Kirkwall has embraced these changes and evolved with them. Unfortunately, this is all but true. Even the statues of tortured slaves remain to this day. The fortress that was once used to break slaves down to prevent them from revolting is now used to house the mages of the city. They spend most of their time locked away and are made Tranquil for the slightest misstep. At night, the cries of mages being tortured and abused echo over its the fortress's courtyard. Nonetheless, most citizens consider the mages' horrible living conditions a necessary evil and the few who do wish to see it change are too afraid to do anything against it.

It is a sight most Kirkwall mages are bound to see at some point in their lives: the statues of the Gallows. It was no different for Evanna who, at the age of eleven, was taken from her home in the Alienage to join the Kirkwall Circle. Carver, one of the city's templars, had told her of the Gallows hoping to prevent it from overwhelming her. But there was little he could have said to prepare her. Evanna spent most of her life in the city's Alienage, surrounded by the last remains of her elven heritage. Lowtown was overwhelming enough, those rare few times she wandered through that part of town. But the Gallows... that was something else entirely.

As soon as she passed underneath the archway, Evanna's eyes were drawn to a gigantic statue of a person with his spear raised high, bowing over a cowering elf. All around her stood people wearing robes similar to the ones the templars gave to her. Most of these mages did little, except for staring in the distance. One of them spoke to a templar in a cold, monotonous tone. Evanne would later learn that these mages were in fact not mages, at least not anymore. They were made tranquil, mages who had their connection with the Fade severed rendering them incapable of performing magic but stripping them of all emotion.

Evanna felt her heart pound in her chest, faster and faster with every beat. She looked around, hoping to find something to calm her, take her mind off of it all. She pressed a stuffed halla, made by her mother, tightly against her chest and closed her eyes. It reminded her of home. The neighbour's freshly baked bread filling the streets with its scent, running through the back alleys with her friends, her mother's voice reading her stories of the dalish. For a second, it all seemed to come back, as if none of this was real. As if her magic was little more than a bad dream. As if...

A hand on her shoulder pulled her back into reality.  
    'It's alright,' said Carver. 'Don't worry, everything will be alright.'  
    'Would it?' Evanna thought. All her life, she was taught to be careful around shemlen. What if this was another way for the shemlen to further remove the Alienage, and the elves, from their world? She looked at Carver, who knelt down beside her and smiled.  
    'Are you ready?' he asked. 'We're almost there.'  
    That's when she knew. Things would be alright. She'd make new friends and learn magic. Her mother would visit her every day, and one day, when everything's over, she will go out into the world to discover the long-lost secrets of her people.

She still thinks about that day. Seven years had passed and every year was worse than the previous one. The mages suffered regular abuse from the templars, Evanne was no exception. While their hatred for the templars brought most mages closer together, Evanna was still an outcast because of her elvish blood, despite their First-Enchanter sharing the same elvish heritage. Evanna stared at the empty sky, once filled by the spires of Kirkwall's cathedral, and realised that things were changing for her and everyone else, and she wasn't going to let a human forcibly steer this change for her. Not again.


End file.
